Share

CHAPTER THREE

Author: LORA ASHLEY
last update Last Updated: 2023-05-17 23:42:21

"Settle down everyone."

Mr Douglas says as he arranges his files and notes on the teacher's table before him. Reece guides me to my seat and I settle down.

Her blazing eyes glare at my left seatmate, who looks like he is participating in a frowning competition. I will leave you with a hint that will help you guess who my left seatmate is: I called him an arrogant brat this morning.

"Are you sure you can manage through this class?" Reece whispers, concern in her voice.

"Yes I can. I am not going to miss class because of some. . . . .badboy."

I can feel Luke's eyes burning through the skin of my face, but I don't fucking care.

If he is angry that I called him a badboy, then he is a more excellent denial expert than the disciple Peter of the bible.

Reece nods at my response and moves to sit on her seat, which is two seats in front of mine. I put my phone on silent and focus my attention on Mr Douglas's back as his hand pens down the topic of today's class on the board: PAINTINGS OF HUMAN SHADES AND EMOTIONS: A MOODBOARD GATEWAY TO SELF DISCOVERY.

Sometimes, I wonder how Mr Douglas comes up with topics that are so 'off curriculum.'

"So today," he begins, "I will be talking about how paintings of human shades and emotions can help an artist on his or her gateway to self discovery."

Tiffany, the blonde girl sitting at my right, blows a full pink balloon from her bubble gum. Her forearms are folded under her full breasts, and her right leg is crossed over her left knee.

A loud yawn falls from Greg's lips, the lean guy seating beside Tiffany. Greg always gloats about his desire to be the next Steve Jobs, but I wonder how he is going to be the next Steve Jobs if he is, first of all:

Always sleeping in class and secondly:

He is in the art class, a class that has nothing to do with sciences or computer jargons.

Mr Douglas continues his teaching despite the distractions, and I jot down some vaild points he makes. He talks about how fine art has always served as a means of expression for mankind for many years, and how capturing human emotional details with the right paint strokes and colours on canvas can help an artist discover his artistic energy through the layers of human emotions.

The class goes on for another one hour or so, and even I start to feel tired.

I am relieved when I pen down the short summary he renders for every thing he has been teaching for the past hour.

"And now, that brings me to the end of my teaching for today. Any questions?"

The class falls silent. As the bookish girl who is only concerned with her academic life, I know you are expecting me to ask a bunch of Shakespearean questions, but I love to ask my questions to my teachers in private because of the following reasons:

First of all, my classmates always dread the day I ask questions in class. It is a telltale sign to them that the class will never end, because I always have tons and tons of questions to ask.

Secondly, I feel that when I ask my questions to my teachers in their office, they tend to answer me from a calm, more relaxed state than when they answer me in class.

So there, you have it.

"Well, since there are no questions, where is Alicia, your Class President?"

It takes a while before I raise my hand in response.

"Please come forward."

I gently rise up from my seat, feeling the pain in my left knee as it goes up a notch. I manage to hide my limp as I walk forward to Mr Douglas.

I reach the front of his desk and stand, facing the class.

"You all can recall that in my last class, I said that I will be giving a class project to you all based on the topic I will be teaching next, and that this project is to be done in groups of twos."

I look around the class, expertly avoiding to make eye contact with Luke.

"After receiving your class list from your class president," Mr Douglas continues, "I paired each and every one of you with a partner. In this project, using the topic of my class today and what you understood by my teaching today, you and your partner will have to come up with seven different paintings depicting the seven universal facial expressions in humans, and will also have to submit a documented summary of how you honestly felt while doing the project."

I shake my head. Mr Douglas will never cease to amaze us.

"Why are you shaking your head Miss Smith? Is there anything you want to say?"

"No. . . .no sir." I stutter out. "I am just impressed by the nature of the project."

I can feel the snarling looks of everyone's eyes on me now, but I had to say something nice to continue to be in Mr Douglas's good book, even if it means that my words will only fuel Mr Douglas's desire of giving us such a gruelling project.

"Miss Smith, take this." Mr Douglas says, handing me a printed A4 paper containing group numbers and the names of people paired together in groups of twos. "I want you to read out the group numbers and the names of people paired together for the project so that everyone will know who their partner is."

I nod and collect the paper from him. We are twenty four in my class, and since everyone is paired in groups of twos, it means that the groups are twelve in number.

I wonder who I will be paired with.

I clear my throat and begin to read out the group numbers and names.

"Group One - Tiffany Adams and Greg Lee."

Tiffany shrieks, snapping her head beside her to glare at Greg, who is nodding his sleepy head.

"Group Two - Miranda James and Sandra Grey."

The two headquarters of gossip in our class chuckle together, pleased that they are paired together.

I continue to call out group numbers and various names until I get to the column marked group nine.

I fall mute as the names of the two people who have been paired in group nine for the project glares back at me.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

    What?!" I gasp.The breeze whips through Luke's hair, blowing it across his face. His hand pushes it back."Yeah. There is this lady called Sienna that I started seeing quite often with my dad since like three months ago. She is pretty, jovial, and I thought she was just one of my dad's friends. But this week Monday, my dad came out to me about his true relationship with her. I was paralyzed with shock to the point that I couldn't do anything that day." "You said you found out this week Monday?" I interrupt, my mind going through a puzzle."Yeah."The dots connect. Shit. "So that was why you weren't in school that day?" I blurt out, my realization hitting me with a bang.He nods. "The news fucked up my head so bad that I couldn't bring myself to come to school that day. I spent most of that day at Tyler's studio. I wasn't expecting to see you there later that day. I also wasn't in my right frame of mind." He sighs deeply. "I still feel a bit pissed at myself that I reacted so bad towa

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

    This is cruel. This is so cruel. So cruel that I feel like dragging my fingers through my hair. So cruel that it reminds me of my own pain. So when Luke was grappling with his mum's death, I and Sarah were being whisked around from court to court to listen to my parents yell and throw curses at each other and to listen from judge to judge asking Sarah and I which parent we would want to stay with. Why do we have to suffer for the shitty things our parents did? We didn't force any of them to bring us into this world. The least they could have done for us was to try to be better for us."I passed the night at my uncle's place. I stayed in his house a couple more days, and then on the third day, in the morning, my dad showed up at my uncle's house, looking normal. He begged me to come back home with him. My uncle, who was his elder brother, beat him up so badly and had the police arrest him for trespassing his property. It was a tough, ugly scenerio to watch. During my mom's burial, my da

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY THREE

    He goes super still and silent at my question for a while, but just when I begin to think that he may not answer me or do anything, his hands on my back and face leave my body. He steps back a bit from me and lifts his t-shirt up over his head, exposing his naked torso to me. My eyes go directly to the tattooed date on the left side of his abdomen.15. 05. 2012.I am not given enough time to ogle at it because Luke turns around in silence, his inked back facing me as he walks to a space on the clearing a little bit far from the motorcycle. I watch his hard muscles flex with each movement. They flex harder when he settles down on the mowed grass. He drops his t-shirt to his bosom, staring afar at the blue water crashing its waves to the rocks.I wonder what is going through his mind right now, but I know that whatever it is must definitely be related to my question earlier. His silence lures me to join him there, and I do. I walk over to him and settle down beside him on the grass. His

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY TWO

    I stare back squarely at him, gulping hard. "Even if you wish you could take it back, the sad news is you can't, Luke, because I love you too."My somersaulting heart gradually stops thumping so hard, and I feel like a huge burden has just been uplifted from my chest. Luke blinks hard at my confession, the action making a single tear drop from his right eye down to his cheek. He wipes it away quickly as his eyes squint back at me, crease lines appearing on the top of his forehead. He takes a step back away from me, shaking his head. A sad chuckle escapes from his lips."You don't have to fucking lie to me that you love me just to make me feel better, Alicia. I do not want your pity. What I want is your complete honesty with me, at least I deserve that."My heart shreds. Why is everything crumbling so fast? I love him. Why can't he see that? I know exactly what I feel for him. It is crazy. Exhilarating, and I know for sure that I did not leave my fucking house just to come all this way

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY ONE

    The wind whips through my hair roughly, wheezing past me in sharp gusts as Luke races down the road with a speed that steals every of my exhaling breaths away. I love the cool sharp feeling of the wind blasting my face, but what I love more is how the blowing wind carries Luke's scent to me.Gosh I love this. I love him. I still hate myself for having to deny the truth to myself for this long.We race past various cars and road signs, and I feel my eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when I catch the view of a set of hills outside town.The truth is that they are not just some ordinary set of hills that I have never seen before. They are the same set of hills that Luke and I visited the day he showed me his art studio for the first time. The blue water waves are splashing at the thick rocks beneath the tall cliffs, their crashing beauty reminding me of the awe I felt when I saw them for the very first time that day.I know Luke is taking us there. I can feel it deep in my guts.I

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER FORTY

    "Mr Douglas?" I croak out, still finding it very hard to believe my eyes.What the hell am I seeing right now?! What the freaking hell is going on here?!"Alicia what are you. . . . .what are you doing here?" He stutters back at me, his blue eyes bulging so wide that I can clearly see the shock and discomfort shimmering in them.Wait a minute.I turn my eyes away from Mr Douglas and place them right back at Luke, who is now staring at me like I just caught him gorging on a forbidden box of sweet milk candies. That is when I see it. Notice it. For the very, first, time.The resemblance is there. Fuck! It has always been there. In their identical deep blue eyes and perfectly sculpted jawlines. The rest of Luke's facial features look softer, feminine.And I figure out instantly that he may be sharing those softer features with his mom, who I am just finding out today, is dead.God. Why the fuck does no one in school know about them? Just how much don't I know about Luke Evans?The tensi

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

    "Hey Alicia, how are you?"Tyler's voice is the first thing that greets me immediately I step out of the cab that drops me in front of his studio, which was of course the first place that popped into my mind to go search for Luke.I just hope he is here."I am cool." I reply, looking around the premises. My doubt begins to poke my insides when I don't see any sign of Luke's motorcycle parked around. "Have you seen Luke? Is he here?" I hurriedly rush out the questions.Tyler shakes his head. "No. He is not here." He corks his eyebrows at me, looking me over, two thin lines creasing at the top of his forehead. "What is going on Alicia? You look. . . . . .tensed."Tensed is an understatement. He should see how torn apart and messy I look inside."It is just. . . . ." I take in a short breath. "I have been searching and calling Luke, but he has not picked any of my calls.""Yo, what happened between you two?"I scratch the back of my neck in impatience. "It is a long story Tyler. Please, d

  • The Badboy's Redemption   CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

    I climb out of the bathtub and wipe my wet body quickly with my towel. When I dash into my room, I glance at the clock.It is just 8:45am.Sarah must be very tired and probably asleep right now, so I will just drop her a note.I quickly go through my skincare routine of applying my body lotion and my facial cream and serum. Next, I throw on a black tank top and blue jeans shorts. The sun is surprisingly hot this early in the morning, and the last thing I need now is to feel sweaty in big clothes.I brush my hair and pull it up into a messy bun. After applying some powder and lip gloss with some perfume, I pick up a pen and tear out a sheet of paper from my rough book to scribble down a note to Sarah, to inform her that I will be leaving to go see Luke. Done, I grab my sling bag lying lazily on my bed and tuck in the note, my phone, my spare library key, and some cash from my drawer into the bag.I glance at the clock again. 9:02am.I look back at myself in the mirror and gulp in a bre

  • The Badboy's Redemption   JUST A QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE

    To my Dearest Readers, Thank you all so much for coming this far with me on this story. Your support and perseverance with this book gives me enough strength to continue this story, and for that, I am really thankful. Sadly, it is with great pain and helplessness that I write to you all today to inform you guys that I won't be able to update this story for some period of time. My school exams are choking me right now, and in order to keep giving you guys the best of this story, I have to clear my papers first so that my brain will be relieved and stable enough to keep on giving you guys the best. I am so sorry for whatever inconvenience this may cause any of you, but I promise to bounce back and smother you all with lots of delicious chapters. I love you all, and I also value your feedbacks, ratings and endless support. I am really glad to be on this ride with you all. You guys are the real MVPs. With so much love, Lora Ashley.

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status